The cheapest way to protect a launch date is usually the one that costs nothing at the time: booking the slot earlier. The most expensive is the one taken in the final two weeks, when air freight and overtime are the only levers left. Capacity planning is the discipline of choosing the cheap lever while it is still available.
Capacity planning: what each decision costs
Four levers: ordering earlier, qualifying a second source, paying for overtime, and paying for expedited freight.
The four differ in cost structure rather than only in amount. Ordering earlier costs working capital and storage; a second source costs a pilot and a duplicated approval; overtime costs a premium on labour; and expedited freight costs a multiple of the standard rate. Each buys a different amount of schedule.
Ordering them by cost per day of schedule recovered is the practical way to plan, and it is also the reason the last-minute options should be treated as a reserve rather than a plan.
Lever 1: ordering earlier
The cheapest schedule per unit and the one that requires the longest view.
Placing the order into a quieter month removes the queue problem rather than paying to jump it. The cost is the capital tied up in stock and the storage, both of which are calculable, and the risk that the specification changes before the stock is used. For a platform programme with a stable specification, this is usually the cheapest day of schedule a programme can buy.
Lever 2: qualifying a second source
A fixed cost paid once, against a recurring risk.
The cost is a pilot, a duplicated packaging version where it differs, and the engineering time to qualify. In exchange the programme gains an alternative line, which changes the negotiating position and provides a real answer to a capacity problem rather than a request for a favour. The cost is fixed rather than per unit, which is why it is worth more to a programme with a long life than to a one-off order.
Lever 3: paying for overtime
A premium on the labour content, bought for a limited number of units.
Overtime increases output at the margin, so its cost per additional unit rises as the volume grows: the first shift extension is cheap, the third adds supervision, error rates and fatigue. It is a useful reserve for a few days of shortfall and an expensive way to manufacture a whole order.
Lever 4: paying for expedited freight
The most expensive lever, and the one most often used as a substitute for planning.
Air freight can cost several times the sea rate and it does not shorten production, only transit. Its cost per day is high and its benefit is limited to the last part of the calendar, which is why it belongs in the reserve and not in the plan. Where a programme finds itself using it regularly, the cause is upstream and the fix is a slot booked earlier.
| Lever | Cost structure | Schedule it buys | When it is worth it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order earlier | Capital and storage | The queue avoided | A stable specification and a forecast that holds |
| Second source | Fixed: pilot and approval | An alternative line | A programme with a long life |
| Overtime | A rising premium per unit | A few days of output | A limited shortfall |
| Expedited freight | A multiple of the standard rate | Transit days only | The final week, as a reserve |
Which decisions buy schedule and which buy nothing
Three that look like levers and are not.
Pressing for a shorter quoted lead time without booking a slot changes nothing; adding a second packaging version for a market that can wait adds a print queue; and increasing the order quantity in the hope of priority usually makes the slot more difficult rather than less. None of the three costs money directly and each consumes schedule, which is why they belong on the list of decisions to avoid rather than on the list of levers.
Planning the reserve
Two levers held back, one decision made early.
A practical structure is to plan the year with early ordering and a qualified second source, and to hold overtime and expedited freight as a reserve with a defined trigger: a slip of more than a stated number of days, in a stated window. Written that way, the expensive levers are used deliberately rather than discovered under pressure.
FAQ
Is overtime cheaper than early ordering?
For a short shortfall it can be, because it is bought for a few units rather than carried as stock for months. For a whole order it is more expensive, because the premium rises with the volume and the error rate rises with the shift length. Ask how many units the shortfall covers, because overtime is bought for a few and carried for months if the whole order takes it.
How much does air freight actually buy?
Transit days only. It does not shorten production, certification or packing, so it is a lever for the last part of the calendar and not for the earlier queues. Ask what it does not shorten: production, certification and packing, so it is a lever for the last part of the calendar and not for the queues before it. and it buys transit days only.
When is a second source worth qualifying?
When the programme has a life longer than one order and the tooling, certification or platform arrangements allow a second supplier to build the same configuration. The cost is fixed, so it amortises over the product’s sales. Ask what the second supplier has to be given: the tooling, the certification file and the process, because those decide whether the qualification is possible.
What is the cheapest way to protect a date?
Book the slot and freeze the packaging version earlier than feels necessary. Both decisions cost administrative time rather than money, and both remove a queue from the calendar. Book the slot and freeze the packaging version earlier than feels necessary, because both cost administrative time rather than money and both remove a queue. Both decisions are made in the quiet months.
Next step
Send the annual volumes, the seasonality and the target dates to Wecent Group through the contact page. The reply states the slot positions by month, the second-source position and the surcharges that would apply if overtime or expedited freight were needed. Related reading: our charger factory, OEM and ODM charger manufacturing and charger manufacturing services. External references: ICC Incoterms rules, International Trade Centre Trade Map, IEC standards, BSI ISO 9001 quality management, UL standards and certification and Intertek testing services.
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